15 June 2006

Is This The Break Marseille Were Looking For?

It's never fun to good to break your leg, especially not when it's the third time in five years. Sadly this is what happened to Djibril Cisse days before the start of the World Cup. That freak accident has blown any chance of him leaving Liverpool this summer and dented Rafael Benitez's transfer budget. Or at least, that's how it seemed a few days ago. Rumours are circulating that Marseille are still keen on signing Cisse despite being our of action for the next four or five months. Lyon, under the management of Gerard Houllier, the man who brought Cisse to Liverpool, were the favourites to sign him as they could pay so much more than Marseille. In fact the word on the street was that Marseille were going to try to convince Liverpool to take Cisse on loan for a year to save up his transfer fee for next summer. Lyon are really out of the race and it's that break that Marseille were looking for. They can now negotiate with Liverpool the loan/permanent deal they were after without being out bid by Lyon. Liverpool will be very keen on it as last week they thought they wouldn't be able to sell Cisse this year. Finally Liverpool should also benefit by demanding that they get the young French midfielder Samir Nasri on loan for a year with a view to a permanent move.